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Mescal, Horst capture marathon titles

The winners of the second annual Rock ’n’ Roll Savannah Marathon promise to return, and not just to defend their titles.

Jill Horst, who repeated as the women’s champion in the full marathon Saturday morning, is on the lookout for a certain celebrated local chef.

“If I keep winning, I’ll keep coming back,” said Horst, of Rome, Ga. “I’ll try to keep doing that until I see Paula Deen.”

Jeff Mescal came from Hebron, Ind., to Savannah for the first time as part of his quest to run marathons in all 50 states. While he reveled in his victory and praised the event, the city and the weather, he noted one conspicuous absence.

“My wife is going to be so mad,” he said of Bonnie Mescal not making the trip. “She wants to come to Savannah.”

He pledged to return with his family, including son Noah, 13, and daughter Jessie, 12, who is running in a 5K this weekend in Chicago.

The 47-year-old Mescal describes himself as an “age-group runner,” and has won his division at all six Rock ’n’ Roll marathons or half marathons he has entered this year. Placing in the top three overall was a goal, and winning was unexpected.

“At my age, I’m happy to get on a podium any time I can, so it’s great,” he said. “When I have a good day, it could happen. Today was one of those.”

He won with a time of 2 hours, 43 minutes, 4 seconds.

He kept a steady pace while the frontrunners — ultramarathoner Joe Hillenbrand of Savannah and relative novice John Tolerton of Bluffton, S.C., eventually faltered.

Tolerton, 42, who began running only two years ago, said he started too fast while running with friends who were in the concurrent half marathon. He saw Mescal behind him around the 16-mile mark.

“You could tell he was still moving at a 6-minute pace,” Tolerton said.

“I felt good at the halfway point,” said Mescal, who went by “feel” instead of using a special runner’s watch to keep track of split times. “When I saw the other two guys ahead of me, I was able to push it a little bit.”

Mescal surged by them around the 18-mile mark and earned his second victory this year. The first was a marathon in his Indiana hometown that drew about 150 runners, he said — a lot different from the Savannah race and its 17,371 combined entries.

“It was windy, cold, with hills — the opposite of this,” said Mescal, lauding the Savannah event. “It was shady most of the run. The temps were great, the humidity was great. It was perfect.”

Making the impact greater on Mescal was his involvement with the American Cancer Society, the Savannah event’s benefitting charity, which reported that about 200 runners raised more than $600,000 on Saturday. Mescal signed up Friday with the society’s DetermiNation and became the first charity runner to win an overall title in the Rock ’n’ Roll national series. He dedicated the race to his mother Ruby, who died 20 years ago from cancer.

Reigning champ

Horst, 34, had a very specific task when she entered the inaugural Savannah marathon last November. She needed to finish in under 2:46 to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. She won in 2:45:12.

On Saturday, she won again in 2:52:05, a time good enough for fifth overall.

“Last year I had a time goal, and I accomplished that,” Horst said. “This year I had a place goal, and I accomplished that. So, Savannah’s been very good to me.”

Once she got out to a strong start, Horst didn’t see any women to run along with over the 26.2-mile course. She had a similar scenario when she won the women’s title at an Atlanta marathon in March.

“I’m used to it,” said Horst, who goes on training runs with her husband, Ben, along on a bicycle over trails at Rome’s Berry College. “There’s no one but deer watching us.”

She did catch a glimpse of a woman trailing her during a turnaround on the course and was surprised to see Anne-Marie Sibal.

Horst was Sibal’s teammate on the track team at Furman, and hadn’t seen her in 12 years.

The first-place check is $1,000, and here’s where Mescal and Horst may differ. Mescal said he might spend the money at Christmas time, adding that his family members will “help me figure that out, I’m sure.”

Horst used her 2011 purse to buy a sixth Chihuahua dog, and might get another dog. Or, said the big fan of a certain famous Savannahian, “We’ll have dinner at Paula Deen’s restaurant.”